Our Eyes Fighting The Light
by AsgardsValkyrie
Summary: This was stupid. He'd only known Joaquin for just a short time, so running away with him was the stupidest thing he could have ever done. But...he'd never felt this way with anyone before; had never experienced his skin tingling after Joaquin's touch. So he bought himself a bus ticket and didn't look back.


Kevin let his head fall against Joaquin's shoulder, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he felt Joaquin's hand come up to play with his hair, gently tugging at the dark brown strands. He shifted in his seat a bit so that he could grab his boyfriend's hands, their intertwined fingers flashing in and out of existence as the bus drove down the highway, the light from the lamp posts flickering through the windows.

Originally, Kevin was going to let Joaquin get on the bus and disappear, and then go home and brood for a couple of days, maybe a week. Finding out that Joaquin had been using him had broken his heart, and seriously wounded his self esteem. All those times he had laid in bed at night, swooning over finally having someone that cared about him, that didn't think of him as just the convenient gay best friend...it had been really refreshing. But even with part of himself wounded from that day's events, when Joaquin said he was going to skip town, Kevin couldn't find it in himself to just let him go. No matter how hard his world was shattered with Joaquin's revelation, deep down Kevin knew that there was more to he and Joaquin's relationship than what FP had made it, and he would never be able to forgive himself if he just let his boyfriend leave Riverdale without at least finding out if what they had was real on both ends.

What he was doing was stupid, honestly. Despite what he felt for Joaquin, Kevin had to admit that he had only known him for a short amount of time, but the way his skin tingled with warmth after they touched, the way Joaquin pressed his thumbs into his hips, Joaquin's smile, Jesus. When Joaquin had smiled at him as they were speeding away from Mustang's hotel room, that's when Kevin made his choice. And so, in less than two hours, Kevin had a bag packed, money taken out of his bank account, and had purchased a bus ticket. Not once did he look back.

A thumb stroking the corner of his mouth stirred Kevin out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Joaquin's beautiful blue eyes staring down at him, a smirk on his lips. "You're thinking too hard, Preppy." Joaquin pulled Kevin's chin up so that he could reach his lips, kissing him slowly. Kevin grinned into the kiss, reaching a hand up to entangle his fingers in Joaquin's soft black hair, moaning as the serpent's tongue met his own.

The moment was ruined by the violent buzzing coming from Kevin's jacket pocket. Determined to ignore it, Kevin inched himself as close to Joaquin as the bus seats would allow, their chests nearly pressed together. The buzzing continued. With a groan, Joaquin pulled away, murmuring, "Are you going to get that?'

Pulling his phone out, Kevin winced. His father was calling him, no doubt trying to figure out where the hell he was. His dad was probably losing his mind right now trying to determine whether or not his son was safe, but Kevin figured he deserved to be selfish for once. Besides, if he answered that phone, there was a chance his father would drag his ass right back to Riverdale and keep him on house arrest for the rest of the school year.

Kevin switched the phone off and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Where were we?"

Joaquin grinned and leaned forward to kiss him again, and it was as if the moment had never been interrupted. They spent the remainder of the ride in each's other's embrace, faces inches apart, laughing breathlessly. Soon, they had forgotten what they were running away from, instead whispering sweet nothings to each other in the dark. Riverdale, the Serpents, and Jason Blossom were distant thoughts, stuffed away in the back of their minds, no longer holding as much importance as they did before. There, with Joaquin, any doubts that Kevin had were rapidly fading away. FP may have been calling the shots before, but right now? In that moment?

Everything between them was real. Joaquin pressing kisses to his neck, each one growing in intensity? Real. His voice low, whispering in Spanish softly, fingers grazing over every inch of available skin? Real. That way he knew just where to press his fingers to get Kevin to gasp? That was real. How could Kevin have ever doubted that?

At some point, Kevin had dozed off, his head once again finding its way to Joaquin's shoulder. His nose scrunched adorably every time light flashed across his closed eyelids.

"Preppy," Joaquin murmured, running a hand through Kevin's hair. "Kevin, this is our stop."

Kevin came to slowly, still half dazed, and let Joaquin guide him off the bus, grabbing their bags from the overhead compartment. He hummed pleasantly when Joaquin nipped at his neck to wake him up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Alright," Kevin yawned. "What's the plan?"

"Figured we'd get a motel," Joaquin said. They stopped on the corner of the dark street. Behind them, the bus station was nearly deserted, and the bus they had just gotten off of rumbled down he streets, the lights soon disappearing into the darkness. Kevin slid his hand into Joaquin's and together they walked up the street to where they saw a flickering sign promising vacancies.

Staying in a motel was a downgrade from what Kevin was used to, but it wasn't so bad with his boyfriend by his side. As long as a roach didn't scuttle it's way across his skin, he'd be fine.

Stepping into the parking lot of the motel, named Cedarbrook, Joaquin pulled Kevin closer, releasing his hand to wrap an arm around his waist. Although Kevin was a few inches taller than Joaquin, he had no problem burrowing into his side, tugging his jacket closed as the wind whipped through the shadows, raising goosebumps on his flesh. They quickly shuffled into the motel and were nearly overwhelmed by the heater, which was obviously on full blast if that blast of hot air was anything to go by.

Kevin moved to open his bag to pull out his wallet when Joaquin stopped him.

"I got this," he said, but Kevin shook his head. "You can pay for the food tomorrow, if it'll make you feel better."

Pursing his lips, Kevin put his wallet away and stood off to the side as Joaquin asked the man at the desk for a room. The man leered at him, his eyes slowly moving over Kevin's body, tilting his body a bit to the side so that he could get a glimpse of the curve of Kevin's backside. Kevin shuddered and avoided his gaze, wishing the man would hurry up and just give Joaquin the key.

Joaquin, seeing the looks Kevin was getting, clenched his jaw and opened his jacket so that the man could see inside. A gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans made the man freeze. "You know what this means?" The man nodded. "Good. Give me the key." Snatching it out of the man's hand, Joaquin closed his jacket and grabbed Kevin by his arm, herding him out the door and down the sidewalk towards their room, number twenty four.

"Do you have a gun?!" Kevin hissed, careful to keep his voice down in case any motel guests were awake.

"Just because I left Riverdale doesn't mean I can stop looking over my shoulder," Joaquin hissed back, shoving the key in the lock and turning it, pushing the door open. He allowed Kevin to enter first, but made him stand by the front door as he checked the room, ensuring that it was empty.

"No more flashing it at people," Kevin said, narrowing his eyes. "The last thing we need is for my dad to go around asking questions and find out that you're armed. He's probably pissed enough as it is." He carefully checked the dresser before setting his bag on top of it, pulling off his jacket and folding it on top of his bag, eyeing the corners of the room for anything that might be crawling across the worn carpet.

"I didn't know you were so bossy," Joaquin smirked, tugging off his leather jacket and tossing it on a chair in the corner of the room. Before Kevin had time to process it, Joaquin grabbed him by the waist and tossed him on the bed, falling in beside him. Joaquin seemed to come alive then, cold hands sliding under his shirt, mouth on his. Kevin tugged Joaquin on top of him, Joaquin's knee parting his legs so that they could mold themselves together. Feeling inspired, Kevin rolled his hips upward at the same time that Joaquin rolled his down. "Shit," Joaquin breathed, tongue tracing Kevin's bottom lip, memorizing the taste of him.

Kevin's shirt is removed, tossed somewhere over Joaquin's shoulder, and so he thinks it's only fair for Joaquin to lose his shirt, too, and proceeded to tug the t-shirt off.

"We gotta stop now if you don't want this to go any farther," Joaquin murmured into Kevin's mouth, hands traveling lower, lower, sliding under Kevin's thighs to lift his hips, tugging Kevin closer. Hands grabbed at his ass and Kevin whined.

"Pants off," Kevin breathes. "Right now."

Joaquin captures his mouth in another kiss, Kevin whimpering as the serpent tilted his head back and slipped his tongue between his lips, deepening the moment, the feeling, the intensity that caused a flood of warmth to spread through their stomachs. A draft of cold air touched his lower body, and Kevin dazedly came to the realization that Joaquin had gotten his pants down and was now aiming for his boxers. He gave Kevin one last kiss before slowly moving lower, kissing his way down Kevin's body.

Kevin's head fell back and he lost himself to the pleasure, crying out when Joaquin bit into his inner thigh, sooting the pain with his tongue.

Joaquin took in all of his reactions, desperate to take Kevin apart. Would Kevin let him? Would he let Joaquin get him ready on his fingers, or even his tongue, tears streaming down his face? Spread those legs wide and sink in, face twisted in agonizing pleasure until Joaquin was in to the hilt? Joaquin could see it now, Kevin absolutely wrecked, holding onto the sheets for dear life as Joaquin took him, legs wrapped around his waist, the headboard slamming against the wall. "More," Kevin would cry. "Please, more!"

The images were almost too much, and Joaquin pulled back, moving up so that his hands rested on either side of Kevin's head. Kevin stared back at him, lips shiny and swollen.

"I want you," Joaquin growls, grinding his jean clad erection against Kevin's nearly bare one, and they both groaned. "But we're not going to do this in a dirty motel room. You deserve better."

Kevin's head dropped onto the bed, and he laid there, disappointed, as Joaquin rolled off of him, pressing one last kiss to his mouth. He understood the importance of their first time together being special, and not while they were at a rest stop during their game of runaway from home, but, goodness, couldn't Joaquin have said that before he got Kevin all riled up? Joaquin said he was going to take a shower, and disappeared into the bathroom with a towel and rag provided by the hotel. Leaning up on his elbows, Kevin looked down at his erection and willed it to go away, but was unsuccessful, his body still in overdrive at being so wound up and without release.

Huffing, Kevin sat up on the bed, crossing his legs and ignoring his problem down below. Reaching for the dresser, he managed to drag jacket off the top of his bag and lay it down on the bed. He opened the pocket and took out his phone, turning it on. As it powered up, he wondered what he would say if he had any missed calls or texts. He obviously wouldn't be giving his location, but how to explain that he was safe and that he came of his own free will? The north side's very own Scooby Gang was already suspicious enough of Joaquin because of his Serpent jacket and its matching tattoo, but now that he's disappeared? Betty "Nancy Drew" Cooper was probably frothing at the mouth.

The phone came to life, and Kevin cringed when he saw the 47 missed calls and 56 texts. His dad, Betty, Veronica, and even Archie had tried reaching him. Kevin scrolled through a few of the messages.

 **Betty:** Kevin, where are you? You just disappeared.

 **Veronica** : Kev, B is losing her mind over here, please call her so she doesn't have to break out her Nancy Drew codex.

 **Archie** : Where r u?

 **Betty:** Seriously, Kev, this isn't funny

 **Betty:** If you're mad that we didnt trust Joaquin we're sorry, just please call me back okay?

 **Betty** : Kevin

 **Betty** : Kevin

 **Betty** : KEVIN

 **Betty** : I just called you thirteen times why aren't you picking up

 **Betty** : Kevin please

 **Archie** : Dude, Betty is about to cry, what the hell is going on?

 **Archie:** Your dad is freaking out, he said you turned the tracking app on your phone off

 **Betty** : Kevin I'm really sorry please please pick up

 **Veronica:** Don't make me stomp you with my Louis Vuitton boots Kevin Keller! Where the hell are you?!

 **Veronica:** Jughead asked around the south side, so far no one has said anything about you. Are you with Joaquin? If you wanted to be alone for one last moment of sexual deviance all you had to do was ask, Jesus.

 **Archie:** Jughead said the serpents haven't heard from Joaquin, dude, are you still alive?! Do you need us to come get you?

 **Veronica:** Listen, I know I can be a bitch sometimes, and that we aren't that close, but I am genuinely concerned for your wellbeing, and you're making the entirety of Riverdale panic, okay? So stop doing whatever it is you're doing, and call me so I know you haven't been destined to the same fate as Jason Blossom. If you want it to just be a convo with me and you, I won't tell anyone else as long as you swear that you are not in danger and that you'll come back to Riverdale. **  
**

Kevin was on the urge of panicking. He hadn't expected his disappearance to cause such a stir, seeing as how his best friend Betty didn't even spend that much time with him anymore ever since Jughead and Veronica started hanging around. He was just the stereotypical gay best friend that was somehow only essential to a conversation when comedic relief or information on cases was needed. Bye bye were the days where he and Betty would get a shake down at Pop's. Instead, she did that with Veronica now, and with her blossoming romance with her crush's best friend, she had even less time for Kevin. He hadn't complained, hadn't wanted to make it seem like he was really affected, but god damn he was. Betty was his only real close friend, and for her to just drop him the way that she did had caused serious damage to his ego, something that was beyond repair, or at least it had been before he met Joaquin.

He knew he should call his dad and let him know that he was okay, and looking into the call log, he could see that his dad called the most, and left a couple of voicemails, no doubt wondering whether or not he should expect his son to wash up on the shores of the river just like Jason did. But he couldn't do it; couldn't call his dad. Ever since mom left, their relationship was strained, and it frustrated Kevin that his dad became so secretive, so unavailable. Gone were the days where he could sit down with his dad and talk. Instead, he had found himself either bottling it up inside, or venting to Joaquin about some very private matters.

Shaking his head, Kevin looked back at the bathroom door. The shower was still running, and the door was partially closed, a small crack giving him a glance at the foggy mirror. With Joaquin otherwise occupied, Kevin decided to take Veronica up on her offer and dialed her number, praying that she was alone.

"Jesus fuck, I am going to kill you," is what Veronica opened with, instead of a simple, kind, "Hello!"

"V-"

"Don't 'V' me!" she hissed, and there was a rustling in the background, like she had been laying in bed. He heard a door close, and a stereo turn on, classical music pumping from the speakers and through the phone. Kevin got the sense that it was Mozart. "Do you have any idea how worried we all are? We thought Joaquin killed you and dumped your body in the river just like he did Jason! My god, what do you even have to say for yourself?"

"I'm safe," Kevin insisted. "I know I didn't exactly leave that impression, but Joaquin did not kidnap me, and I am safe. We left Riverdale."

"You left Riverdale? Have you lost your mind?!"

"I wasn't going to let Joaquin go alone, Veronica," Kevin sighed, throwing another look over his shoulder at the still running shower. "I know that FP was pulling a lot of strings, but Joaquin really does like me, I know that."

There was a beat of silence over the line. Veronica sighed, long and hard, the phone crackling in response.

"I am never going to forgive you for the stress you put me through," she finally says. "Ten years just came off my life expectancy. My hair is falling out, my pores are clogged, my stylish wardrobe went up in flames. I expect very detailed accounts of your sexual rendezvous with your bad boy.

"We have not yet had sex, he insists that a motel is not the right place for our first time to be. My very aroused appendage declares otherwise. Pretty sure that when we do have sex, he's going to ruin me for anyone else."

"I can see it now, the two of you are thirty and married with two children, one of which I so generously carried. Someone asks you how your relationship has stayed so strong for so long. You say communication, but in reality, it was that bomb ass dick."

"Oh my god," Kevin hissed.

"Joaquin's sexual prowess aside, seriously, what were you thinking? We thought that Joaquin was going to take you back to your house, we didn't think he was going to take the next bus out of here and take you with him."

"Believe it or not, this was not preplanned. I just...I thought about having to stand there and watch his disappear, and I couldn't do it. I want us to be real, I want us to be something without FP standing over us. I know it seems like my relationship with him has been built solely by FP's asshole ways, but there are parts that are just so overwhelmingly real that I know without a doubt that he didn't fake what he felt for me."

"I seriously hope you know what you're doing, Kevin," Veronica whispered. "Can you at least give me a message to give to your dad or something? With Jason's bullet ridden corpse, Mustang's overdose, and the general shadiness of everyone in Riverdale, adding your disappearance to the list of stressful things has put your dad one step closer to a nervous breakdown."

"I don't even know what to say," Kevin groaned. "How do I explain to him that I've been dating a Southside Serpent who was occasionally using me to feed information back to FP and that I ran away with him to explore our love for each other? Can you just come up with something? I would really appreciate it, V."

"The things I do for you people," Veronica complained, a laugh in her voice. "Fine, I will produce a beautifully spun web of lies for you and your sexy boyfriend, and in exchange for my services, I demand that you tell me where you are at this moment."

"Promise you won't tell my dad or Betty?"

"A little upset that you don't want to tell Betty but I won't comment on it right now. I promise."

"I'm in San Junipero. I don't know if we'll be staying here or moving on soon, but we're at a motel tonight. And V?"

"Yes?" she sang.

"Thank you," Kevin said. "So much."

"It is of no consequence," Veronica replied loftily. "However, due to the role I have in your drama, as an active participant and upcoming lie smith, I do demand the right to ask you questions about your forbidden romance, and I demand that you call me so that I know you're okay. I will ensure that I am alone before taking your call, and to ensure the security of these conversations, I am even going to change your name in my phone to The Snake Charmer."

"That is an awful name, Betty will figure it out immediately!"

"Bye!" Veronica sang and hung up.

Kevin rolled his eyes, a smile on his face as he tossed his phone on top of his jacket, leaning back to rest on his hands. When his head tilted back, he could see Joaquin standing in the doorway of the bathroom, hair wet and plastered to his forehead, water dripping on the carpet.

"How much of that did you hear?" Kevin asked.

"Enough," Joaquin said, the towel around his waist dipping dangerously low, Kevin's eyes following its movements. "You sure you don't want to go back?" Insecurity bled into his voice, and Kevin smiled, rolling around to pull Joaquin's wet body onto the bed.

"No, I will not be going back to Riverdale. At least, not right now." He pressed a kiss to Joaquin's life. "I go where you go."

Later that night, after Kevin had showered, he and Joaquin lay in the bed together, legs intertwined, Kevin's head resting on Joaquin's chest. One of Kevin's legs was thrown around Joaquin's waist, holding him close, their combined body heat keeping them warm as the wind outside rattled he window panes.

The moon shimmered through the thin blinds, casting a pale, unearthly glow on the two of them, and despite his exhaustion, Kevin tried to fight off the sleep and the pleasant feeling of Joaquin's hand rubbing his back. A few minutes later, his eyes, unable to fight the light any longer, closed, and he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
